Shrimp, Pine Nut And Pepperoncini Spaghetti – Foodie Friday

With Thanksgiving looming on the food horizon my quest for Chef Jill McCoy this week was to create a dish that had no resemblance to turkey, stuffing, yams, or anything that might be considered a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

I do plan on having turkey next Thursday and probably next Friday, and Saturday too. So you see my dilemma, I don't want turkey fatigue . Solving food freak outs is what we do on Foodie Friday.

Chef Jill took heed to my request and created a simple and quick recipe that features a South Louisiana favorite, shrimp. Along with a couple of other ingredients you might not be as familiar with. Those being pine nuts and pepperoncini peppers.  Each of those ingredients give this dish a nice little pop with every bite and your guests will think you've turned into Giada De Laurentiis .

I have to admit I cook with  pine nuts every never. Yeah, I had no idea what they were until I started this recipe. However, I am pleasantly surprised. They add a nice unexpected crunch and a brilliant nutty flavor to this dish. I can see these bad boys going in the my next big salad.

The pepperoncini peppers add just enough heat and snap to smooth elegance of the shrimp so you get that contrast in texture, power, and palate. It really is a neat combination of flavors. You can use  pepperoncini if you don't like the high heat of other peppers. For me they added just the right amount of sparkle this spaghetti needed.

Now you know Chef Jill isn't going to let us eat anything that isn't healthy. That's why she used a whole wheat pasta. It actually has more fiber than the traditional semolina pastas. This was an easy fix and the recipe held true throughout. I think you'll like making this seafood twist on a traditional Italian favorite.